

THINNING FRUIT. 31 
of thinning could change the habit of these old varieties to 
any great extent, but with such varieties as Wealthy, Dutchess 
of Oldenberg, or any of the other new, heavy-bearing varieties, 
there is every reason to think that by rigid and successive thin- 
ning, year after year, they could be induced to bear as readily 
one year as another. 
Thinning to Prevent the Spread of Parasitic Diseases.—When 
brown rot (MJonzlia Fructigenum) is working on green or ripen- 
ing fruits, the rot starts on the side that is most protected from 
the sun and wind, or in other words where there is the most 
moisture. The rot is spread by spores that are borne by the 
wind to places of lodgment in some. crevice between fruits, or 
between a fruit and a bunch of leaves or other protection where 
enough moisture is present to start the spore into growth, some- 
what as a seed is germinated. After the rot once gets started, 
it will spread from fruit to fruit until all the fruit on the tree 
has been destroyed, if, as is the case frequently with plums, the 
fruits are close enough to touch one another. Large fruits 
should not be allowed to grow in bunches, as the chances are 
much better for one single fruit to escape the ravages of brown 
rot than for two or more that are in contact. ‘The same is true 
of apples. While there is less danger that brown rot will affect 
apples, the codlin moth is afforded a protection from sprays in 
a cluster of apples and can work with little danger of being 
troubled by poisons or by his bird enemies. 
Flow to Thin.—No fast rule can be laid down for thinning 
all fruits. There is very little danger of thinning too much, 
the tendency usually being not to thin enough. Peaches should 
be thinned until the individual fruits are six to eight inches 
apart. Plums should not be left close enough so that they will 
touch one another when full grown. A good rule is to leave 
them so that the space between them will be three times the 
diameter of the fruits at maturity. Thinning apples is some- 
what more difficult than thinning the other fruits, yet when 
the operator has become familiar with the work, it can be car- 
ried on much more rapidly than would be supposed. Some 
‘mechanical devices for thinning fruit have been tried, but they 
have not been successful, because of the difficulty of discrimi- 
nating between the good and the inferior fruits. The best 
